February tentatively fixed for Donald Trump’s visit to India: Reports

Diplomatic channels between both nations are in contact to organise the visit of US President Donald Trump to India on an open invitation extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to media reports, a tentative date for the end of February has been proposed. The visit might fall in the middle of Trump’s impeachment proceedings.

President Trump’s maiden visit to India during an election year would be crucial for his re-election hopes, as he is looking to gain support from the Indian-American community. Photo courtesy: Wikimedia

The US House of Representatives voted in favour of impeaching President Trump in 2019 for an abuse of power for withholding American aid from the Ukraine unless the country investigated the president’s Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Sources said the dates would most likely be finalised after his impeachment trial begins in the Senate next week.

"We are working on mutually agreed dates. It is likely to happen soon," an official of the Ministry of External Affairs said.

President Trump’s maiden visit to India during an election year would be crucial for his re-election hopes, as he is looking to gain support from the Indian-American community.

Modi and Trump share a strong relationship, a glimpse of which was displayed last year at the ‘Howdy, Modi’ event in Houston where the two leaders endorsed each other before a massive Indian diaspora crowd.